Here are a couple of suggested thoughts as to why Luke chose this particular story. At 12 years of age, a Jewish boy would begin study with the local rabbi of his hometown synagogue in preparation for bar mitzvah (son of the commandment) at age 13. In Jewish society, a boy became a man at 13 for at 13 he was now accountable for keeping the commandments of God. The story of Jesus when He was 12 gives us a brief glimpse into His bar mitzvah preparation. That also partially explains why Jesus is found in the temple in Jerusalem interacting with the teachers. He is learning (and teaching!) them in preparation for His bar mitzvah when he will be examined on his learning of the word of God. Before leaving this thought, does the Christian society in which we live provide young men and women with a definitive “rite of passage” like a bar mitzvah (bat mitzvah for girls)? Perhaps confirmation for pre-teens is the closest we come as Christians but even confirmation lacks the community standing, the “I am now a man” standing, that bar mitzvah provides.

A second reason why 12 is a significant age. At 12 years of age, pre-teens are at the height of a highly vulnerable period in their lives. Age 12 is a very key age for the male because he is beginning his practice time for manhood. It is at age 12 that males are forming their ideas of sexuality. At age 12 they are answering the important question, “Am I heterosexual or homosexual?” The male pre-teen needs his father or a father figure to walk through adolescence with him. Beginning at age 12 the male needs his father to come alongside him and establish a framework of communication that will take him through his teen years. This is the pre-teen’s practice time for manhood and he needs his father to lead the way. How he performs in the practice round will indicate how he will perform in the real game.

Satan is well aware of the vulnerability of age 12. He uses pornography, introduces thoughts of negative self-image, and persuades pre-teens to self-medicate those painful feelings and hurts of adolescence. It is no wonder that the average age of first exposure to pornography is 11 years. Satan wants to sow the seeds of sexual sin and false intimacy at the very time that pre-teens are preparing for adulthood.

The National Coalition For Purity is aware of the vulnerability of age 12. We understand that most men who are struggling with sexual sin began looking at pornography and self-medicating at that age or younger. Our goal is to help them develop the ability as adults to deal with the stressors of life in a healthy, Christ-glorifying way. We want to expose Satan’s lies and rescue these men from the enemy’s lair.